


Nighttime strolls

by KukkiisArt



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Shounen-ai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-21
Updated: 2015-01-21
Packaged: 2018-03-08 13:24:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3210707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KukkiisArt/pseuds/KukkiisArt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A more or less short story about how Rhys and Cole got to know each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nighttime strolls

**There he was again, that strange young man, crouching on top of a table, yet unnoticed by the mages sitting at the table.** His worn, dirty leathers looked like they’d never been washed and Rhys wrinkled his nose just at the thought of their smell. He’d, of course, never actually got close enough to the young man to smell him, but his imagination was wild. “Rhys,” Adrian called out to him. The short redheaded woman sat beside him drumming her delicate fingers on the tabletop impatiently. “Yes?” He smiled politely at her in response. “What are you doing staring off into the distance? What’s so interesting about those Apprentices over there?” She puffed her cheeks in annoyance. For a moment Rhys was really confused, then he looked back to the table. The young man was sitting there, still, watching a templar passing by. Only now Rhys actually paid attention to the group of young women sitting at this very table. “Oh, I wasn’t really,” he looked back at Adrian with a charming smile. “I was daydreaming.” “While staring at young pretty women?” She raised her brow in disbelief. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous.” “I _am_ your woman, Rhys, how could I like you staring at younger women.” He chuckled at her little outburst and gave her an apologetic kiss on the cheek, before he returned to his studies.

The night came and as always all mages were sent back to their quarters. Rhys was glad to be a senior enchanter, it granted him his own room. He didn’t have to share it with anyone. That made sneaking out at night significantly easier. And the need to sneak out, he felt it tonight. Sometimes he’d sneak out to meet Adrian, but their visits became rarer lately. They had been lovers for long years, and friends for longer. She was politically very engaged, and her idealistic visions of freeing the mages were all she talked about lately. Rhys missed his cute Adri. The woman he met many years ago. The woman he started a relationship with, but she was slipping through his fingers. He could barely remember how she used to be. All this political talk, the conspiracies, rage and ranting, they tired him. So they didn’t visit much anymore, not secretly at night, at least. The reason why Rhys had snuck out tonight, though was the same, as it always was. He was going to meet someone, just that it wasn’t Adrian. Actually, he wasn’t even sure if he’d actually _meet_ the person. He was, whatsoever, still going to look for him.

His door opened with the slightest click, and he stepped out soundlessly. There were usually no Templars stationed up here for Nightwatch, they sat down in the main hall, playing cards and drinking wine. They knew, of course that mages sometimes snuck out at night, but they turned a blind eye to them. Too lazy to follow each and every one of them around, he assumed. And why would they. Nothing had happened in years in the white spire. Nothing at all. That was maybe also part of the reason why Rhys was now sneaking around the dark hallways. There was a man no one but him seemed to see, it was the most interesting thing that had happened in a while, so obviously he was going to look into it further. He quietly pushed the door to a storage room open. He had been searching the tower, for the young man, during daytime. But it was impossible to interact with him alone and he kept disappearing into thin air, too. So he’d thought where he might find the man, and figured, the only place he hadn’t searched yet, was the pit.

 The Pit was the depth of the tower, including the dungeons, ancient torture-chambers and levels over levels of ancient ruins that no man had set foot into for ages. The perfect place to hide. Of course Rhys couldn’t just wander down into the dungeons, nor were there open doors to the deeper levels. Handily he knew of some secret passages that spread throughout the tower. They were old passageways meant for servants, who were not to show their filthy selves to the nobility yet, of course, they had to be able to move through the castle to do their work. Not many knew about those passages, and Rhys doubted anyone knew _all_ of them. The few mages who knew about them guarded their secrets well, even from other mages. Rhys still was a little surprised none of the templars had found out about the loose stone in the Storage’s wall. If they had the passage would sure had been sealed, for it potentially lead to freedom safely. He softly pushed the stone in and the wall split open in front of him.

 What followed were a long way of dirty vents, covered in cobwebs, that he crawled through on all four. Then a spiral staircase and a passage between two walls so narrow he could barely breathe while squeezing himself through. He took a relieved breath when he broke free from the narrow way and looked around. He was surrounded in darkness so deep he might as well be standing an inch from the tip of a templar sword and wouldn’t know. He softly stomped his staff onto the ground and a soft bluish light emitted from the crystal at its’ top. It cast just enough light for him to recognize that the room was huge. He increased the mana flowing into his staff and within a second the room was lit up. There were ancient statues here, an old wooden chair, toppled over and long forgotten, chests and broken vases. Who’d left all this, Rhys wondered, Had this been a storage, too, once? Then his attention shifted though. There he was. Crouching on a crate staring right at him. Messy blond hair fell into his face, but it didn’t cover his impressive blue eyes. The young man flinched as their eyes met. His look became nervous. “Hello, there.” Rhys said softly. The boy stared at him, frozen in shock, then he looked to both his sides as if he was suspecting Rhys had been talking to someone else. “You… can see me?” The voice was timid and rough, as if rarely used, which was probably true. “I can.” The boy made a choked sound and stumbled backwards, lost grip and fell off the crate. A huge cloud of dust emerged from behind the crate. “By Andraste,” Rhys said in surprise, “are you alright?” He hurried over to the crate and held out a hand. The young man laid there like a bug on the back staring at him with big eyes.

 Then he suddenly recovered his senses, it seemed, and he quickly moved away from Rhys. With nimble movements he retreated to the top of a statue, where he remained crouched down like a frog. Rhys looked up to him in surprise and acknowledgement. “You’re fast.” The boy remained silent and kept a close watch on his every move. “Why can no one in the Tower see you?” Rhys finally asked and sat down on the crate. The boy blinked and seemed to think about the question. “I…” He slowly started, “I don’t know.” he said.  
“What’s your name?”  
“I’m Cole.”  
“I’m Rhys, a pleasure to meet you, Cole.”  
The young man, Cole, slowly climbed down from the statue, he seemed more certain now that the man wouldn’t hurt him. Rhys smiled at him openly.  
“Forgive my curiosity, Cole, but what are you doing down here?”  
“I live here.”  
“Are you a mage?”  
“...No.” There had been a little hesitation in his answer but he didn’t seem to be lying. Maybe he just wasn’t sure.  
“How did you end up living here?”  
“Templars brought me in… locked me in the dungeon… then… I was here… and people can’t see me anymore.”  
“So you were visible once?”  
“Yes.”  
“How curious.”

Rhys noticed how the boy had come closer after a while. They talked and talked, soon Cole started asking questions, too. He had many, and most were as curious as he was. One time he wanted to know if Rhys read books, then he further inquired why he read them. He didn’t seem to understand the fascination with books at all. Maybe he couldn’t read himself, Rhys thought, many entrants came from poor families, and proper education was a privilege to the wealthy and noble. Rhys asked what Cole did all the time, if he wasn’t lonely and bored if there had been noone to talk to for, what had been years, most likely. Cole had cast down his eyes and looked very sad and fragile for a while. As if he would crackle and break any moment. Rhys harrumphed awkwardly and pulled out a deck of cards from his pocket. The boys attention shifted in an instant. Rhys had planned on teaching him about playing cards, instead Cole beat him 4 times in a row and left him frustrated, and wondering where the lonely man had gotten his skills. “I spent a lot of time watching people play. I understand the rules.” he explained the unspoken question. “You don’t just understand them, you mastered them.” Rhys complained theatrically. Cole gave him a terribly apologetic miserable look in response and Rhys quickly assured him that he wasn’t mad.

They played and spoke all night and the look in Cole’s eyes when Rhys told him he had to return to his quarters, nearly broke his heart. “I will come back tomorrow.” Rhys assured him in a gentle tone but Cole just shook his head and backed away. “No… you will forget me.” “I won’t. I promise. I will be back tomorrow night, wait for me here.” The boy said nothing but he didn’t seem to believe a word out of Rhys’ mouth right now. The Enchanter let out a sigh and with a lingering feeling of worry he left the pit and returned to his quarters before the sun came up.

 From that night on, every night, Rhys would climb down into the pit, meet Cole, talk to him, play with him. He brought him books and attempted to teach him how to read but the boy had no interest in learning it, so eventually he just gave up. He did learn, though, that Cole took a great liking to hearing stories about whatever Rhys had experienced during his expeditions outside the tower. They were stories of dragons and bandits, fights and mysterious ruins. Rhys had a hunch, though, that Cole just liked to hear him talk. Which was a flattering thought. After a short time the young man had become so much less shy it could almost be called a transformation. When Rhys came he always found him first, sat close enough to him so their shoulders touched and looked at him full of anticipation and affection. Sometimes it felt a little creepy since the boy had a talent for staring at him with his piercing blue eyes for the entire duration of his stories without blinking.

 Today as well, Rhys had wandered down into the pit, the glowing red handprint on his cheeks was invisible in the darkness. The handprint was the last result of a long and tiring talk with Adrian today. She’d been furious. “I almost don’t see you anymore you sleep half of the day and then you lock yourself into the library to read weird books about the fade, and you even reject me if I ask for a meeting at night?!” she shouted at him in the middle of the hallway. Rhys had flinched and tried to hush her, those weren’t topics to be heard by templar ears, she’d get them into trouble if she kept on screaming like that. “Calm down Adrian. Let’s go somewhere else to talk.” He’d begged her in a worried tone. In the end they broke up. When she asked him if he loved her he couldn’t find an answer. That was answer enough for her. Crying and cursing she’d stormed out of the room, not without slapping him fiercely though. His cheek burnt and he rubbed it with his fingers. “Did someone hurt you?”

 The voice came from behind and Rhys flinched his staff started to glow and the young man behind him became visible in the soft light. “Andraste’s mercy, Cole, you scared me!” He complained, instantly regretting it deeply as he saw Cole back away with an apologetic look on his face. _If he was a dog_ , Rhys thought, _his ears would be flopped down and he’d be wincing._ “I’m sorry.” Cole muttered ruefully. “It’s okay. Don’t worry. I had an unpleasant day. I might be a bit jumpy.” He smiled gently and Cole’s mood brightened a little. He was so easy to read and still impossible to fully understand. “What… happened?” The young man asked hesitantly. “Oh I broke up with Adrian.” Cole tilted his head at the answer and once again, Rhys found himself reminded of a dog. “She’s a red-haired enchanter, and we were in… a relationship.” He explained awkwardly. He didn’t like where this talk was going. It felt like explaining sex to a child. “But you don’t love her.” Rhys looked at Cole in surprise. Then he sighed and sat down. “Is it that obvious. I did love her once though. But… things...changed.” Cole sat down next to him, their shoulders touching, and leant his head against his shoulder. Rhys wondered if the boy was trying to comfort him. A little smile showed on his lips and he patted Cole’s head.

 “So she hurt you because you hurt her?” Cole asked. That naive way of his to hit the nail's head impressed Rhys every now and then. “Yes. You could say it like that.” They kept silent for a while, each following their own thoughts. Then Cole suddenly broke the silence, and in a timid and worried voice he asked: “Is it my fault?” Rhys was genuinely surprised and even more confused. “Why… Why would it be your fault?” “I saw… Mages in a ‘relationship’ sneak out every other night. Pressing flesh on flesh in some dark corner of the spire. But every night without fail, you come to see me.” Rhys chuckled at Cole’s words. “You watched mages having sex?” Cole blushed and cast down his eyes. He didn’t understand why, for sure, but he felt like he’d done something forbidden. Like a child. “Yes.” “Being invisible has its good sides, I see.” Rhys chuckled before he continued “she was indeed angry about me, not spending enough time with her, but the reason we broke up was a deeper one and nothing of it was your fault. I come here because I want to. I’d spend time with you, rather than with her.”

 Cole looked at him with a mix of surprise and genuine happiness and for a second he looked at the verge of tears. “You’re my only friend, Rhys. Thank you for always coming to see me.” He said, and as Rhys expected his voice was shaking dangerously. He was about to cry. Rhys knew he had a special place in Cole’s heart, but it still flattered him everytime he noticed it. “Don’t cry.” He said calmly and patted Cole’s blond head. The young man took it as an invitation, he wrapped his arms around Rhys and hugged him tightly. Rhys hugged him back and patted his back. “Are you lonely now, Rhys?” Cole asked, his voice muffled by Rhys’ chest.  
“Because Adrian and I broke up?”  
“Yes.”  
“But I still have _you_ , no?”  
“Yes but we don’t have a ‘relationship’.” Cole stated and raised his head. Rhys laughed.  
“You’re right, we don’t, but I’m really not that desperate.”  
“Could we have one?”  
The question came unexpected and wiped the laugh out of Rhys’ face. What was the boy suggesting?! But Rhys was sure he didn’t know for sure what he was talking about. He was just trying to help him.  
“Technically, yes. But it’s more than just ‘pressing flesh on flesh’ you know? It’s about love, too.”  
“I love you.” Cole said, unwavering. Rhys shook his head.  
“No, you don’t understand. It’s a different kind of love. You may like me a lot because I’m the only one you can interact with freely without fear of being forgotten again.”  
“I’m scared every night, when you leave, that you’ll forget.”  
“Mh, yes, but… still saying that you love me is…”  
“Is it bad? Can’t I love you?”  
“No, that’s not it. I just doubt you fully understand, Cole.”  
“I understand.”

Cole was stubborn. Rhys had known that. If he was convinced of something he would not falter no matter what you said to him.

 “You don’t-” His sentence was cut off in the middle as chapped, yet soft, lips were pressed onto his own clumsily. He was too shocked to back off. For the first time since he’d first talked to Cole he consciously breathed in his scent. He smelled of dust and dirt but it wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d expected from the young man’s look. Cole obviously didn’t know how to continue, all he knew he’d learned from watching, obviously. So he fidgeted nervously and drew back his head. His cheeks bright red and his eyes cast down shyly. “Cole…” Cole’s head flinched up and looked at him slightly panicked. Did he expect him to be mad? Before Rhys could say another word Cole bolted away into the darkness of the pit and was gone.

Rhys looked after the young man, letting out a deeply troubled sigh, and touched his lips with his fingers. He was very certain that he liked women and held no further interest in men. What troubled him was, that, even so that was a fact, Cole’s shy kiss hadn’t felt bad. It’d actually made him happy, made his heart flutter just a little. He liked the boy a lot, though he was certain his feelings weren’t of _that_ kind. What would he do if Cole wanted to do more of what he learned from watching mages. _Pressing flesh on flesh, huh?_ Rhys tried to imagine it, and strangely it wasn’t as hard as he’d anticipated. _Not without introducing him to a bathtub first though,_ Rhys swore to himself. Then with a slight chuckle, and shaking his head he returned to his chambers.

 

The End.


End file.
